No. 24 Women's Soccer Opens Four-Match Homestand
10/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 3, 2007
MILWAUKEE - The No. 24/-/27 Marquette women's soccer team will look to return to its winning ways when it hosts a pair of BIG EAST National Division foes to commence a four-match homestand at Valley Fields.
No. -/-/23 Villanova makes a stop at Valley Fields on Friday, Oct. 5, for a 7 p.m. kick-off and Georgetown will face MU at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday's match with the Hoyas will be televised live on Time Warner Sport Ch. 32 with Matt Menzel and head men's soccer coach Louis Bennett on the call.
The weekend will be extra special for the program as it is alumni and family weekend. All women's soccer alumni in attendance on Friday will be recognized prior to the game. The families of the Golden Eagles will be introduced before the game on Sunday.
"The team is excited about the weekend," said head coach Markus Roeders. "We have two very good BIG EAST teams coming to Valley Fields. It should be a great match-up with Villanova under the lights and we are looking for a strong turnout by our students and fans. We are excited about our alumni and parents joining us for the games this weekend. It is always nice to bring our 'Marquette Family' together. It will be a great weekend of soccer action at Valley Fields."
The Golden Eagles (9-1-1, 2-1-0) suffered their first loss of the 2007 season in the form of a 5-0 shutout at then No. 21 Connecticut on Sunday. Prior to the loss, MU earned its ninth shutout of the season and defeated Providence, 2-0, on Sept. 28. Ashley Bares, although held scoreless in the Golden Eagles' last three outings, leads MU and the BIG EAST with seven goals. Junior defender Katie Kelly continues to conference eight assists (0.73 pg), a mark that stands 12th in the nation.
"Our team has responded very well after the loss to UConn," added Roeders. "We got beat by the better team and we made mistakes which led to the goals. Training has been very good (this week) and we are eager to get back on the field. This team knows that only our best soccer is good enough to earn results and the upcoming weekend will give us a chance to redeem ourselves against two of the top teams in the BIG EAST this year."
The Golden Eagles will be will looking for their 100th win at Valley Fields on Friday night. In 11 seasons of play at The Valley, Marquette owns a 99-28-7 all-time record on its home pitch and is riding a 11-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season. MU is 11-1 in regular season BIG EAST play at The Valley.
The Wildcats (7-0-4, 1-0-2) are one of three undefeated teams in the nation currently. Villanova is coming off a pair of ties in its last two matches, recording a scoreless draw against Rutgers and a 1-1 tie at Seton Hall.
Nikki Mabery leads Villanova offensively with 13 points, and ranks fourth in the league in goals with five. Collectively, VU's scoring offense ranks 24th in the nation with 2.55 goals per game, while its defense has allowed only three goals in 1,070 minute of play. All-American goalkeeper Jillian Loyden ranks seventh in the nation with a 0.28 goals against average and her save percentage (.932) is sixth nationally. The Golden Eagles are 1-0 all-time against Villanova. Marquette took a 1-0 victory on Oct. 29 in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals at Valley Fields last season.
"Villanova is still undefeated" said Roeders. They are very well coached, hard working, organized, and have great goalkeeping. It is easy to see why Villanova is among the top teams in the country."
The Golden Eagles and Hoyas will meet for the first time on Sunday. Georgetown (8-3-0, 1-2-0), who has yet to win a road game, is coming off a 1-1 last weekend defeating Seton Hall (1-0), and losing at Rutgers (2-1). Ingrid Wells and Stephanie Zare lead the Hoyas each with nine points on three goals and three assists. Georgetown has outscored its opponents 21-7 overall for the season.
"It will be our first match-up against Georgetown since we joined the BIG EAST," said Roeders. They are a strong team who is enjoying a great season and we expect a tough fight. Similar to our squad, they have been winning games and haven't allowed many goals. Considering Sunday is 'Parent's Day', the ladies will be excited to play at home with our most loyal fans in the stands."
